Talk:Jayuya Uprising
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The statement that 70% of Jayuya was destroyed after air and land bombardment is false.
Proof lies in the fact that the loss of life putting down the rebellion was minuscule, less than a handful of nationalists died in that minor putsch. How someone can account for a bombardment of the magnitude described on a tiny hill town would cause no casualties is a laugh.
I also disagree with the statements that the PRican flag was banned and that espousing independence publicly was banned, since many leader of PRican independence were never jailed for speech. This and a series of articles in Wikipedia ignore the electoral failure of the nationalists. Peaking in elections in the mid-30s, but always a minority, they quickly became an irrelevant force in electoral politics. This played a strong role in their choice to advocate violence. Finally, the articles ignore the proto-fascist qualities of the Nationalist party.
Maybe the magnitude may not have been as cited in many websites however, I believe in that old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words". Therefore, I invite you to view these pictures: * Furthur Photos of the Revolt. Another thing, Jesus T. Piñero, was appointed governor by the United States and therefore had to respond to the President himself. It was during the "Cold War" era and when anything or anyone who spoke against the government of the U.S. was either considered a communist or simply anti-american. While it is true that the Nationalist Party at first participated in the electorial process without any success, they then adopted the philosphy of obtaining independence by any means even with the use of violence.
Since, this was against the democratic principals of the United States, Governor Piñero forbide any political speech that would advocate Independence through violent means. All this occurred during the era known as McCarthyism. In case you are not familiar with that era, here is a website that you may look up: Age of McCarthyism. The flag of Puerto Rico did not become the official flag until 1954 and was considered a symbol of independence. Ref: Flag of Puerto Rico "The flag soon came to symbolize the ideals of the Puerto Rican independence movement of the time". Therefore, its public display was forbidden, the only flag allowed to be displayed in public was the U.S. flag. Even today, while in the United States we display our flag as a sign of our cultural hertiage and unity, in Puerto Rico it is rare the house where you see a Puerto Rican flag waving outside without the fear of being tagged an "independentista". Take care, Tony the Marine 19:15, 26 September 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Further prove
Further prove about the prohibition of the public display of the Puerto Rican flag as cited from: Estado Libre Associado
"The flag was created in 1895, by the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, which advocated independence for Puerto Rico and Cuba from Spanish rule." (...) "Its design is the same as the Cuban flag, but with the colors inverted. It has five horizontal stripes, alternating red and white, with a white star on a blue triangle in the extreme left." (...) "Before 1952, police arrested anyone displaying the flag on charges of insubordination against the United States. When Puerto Rico became a Commonwealth that year, the flag became the island's official emblem."